Three converters in one: switch between volume units (cups, tablespoons, teaspoons,
milliliters, fluid ounces), between weight units (ounces, pounds, grams, kilograms),
and between cups and grams for a specific ingredient. A US cup of all-purpose flour is
120 g; a cup of granulated sugar is 200 g — because a cup measures volume, not weight.
Volume, weight & ingredient modes·King Arthur Baking cup weights·US cup · updates as you type
Read this first
Volume and weight conversions here are exact unit ratios. The ingredient cup-to-gram
weights are King Arthur Baking standard averages — real cups vary by brand and by how
you measure (spoon-and-level versus scooping packs in more). For baking, weighing on a
kitchen scale in grams is always more accurate than measuring by cup. This tool uses the
US cup (236.588 ml), not the 250 ml metric cup or the 284 ml UK imperial cup.
Pick a mode, type your amount, and choose the units. Volume and weight convert by exact ratio; ingredient mode converts cups to grams (and back) using the ingredient you choose.
Cups and grams only relate through the ingredient's density — that's why you pick one.
How it works
Volume, weight, and why a cup of flour isn't a cup of sugar
Volume measures space; weight measures mass. Cups, tablespoons,
teaspoons, milliliters, and fluid ounces are all volume — they convert with fixed
ratios that never depend on what's in the cup: 1 cup = 16 tbsp = 48 tsp =
236.588 ml = 8 US fl oz. Ounces, pounds, grams, and kilograms are all weight, and
they convert with their own fixed ratios: 1 lb = 453.592 g,
1 oz = 28.3495 g.
The two systems only connect through density — how much a given
volume of a specific ingredient weighs. A cup of all-purpose flour weighs about
120 g, but a cup of granulated sugar weighs 200 g and a cup of
honey weighs 340 g, because they pack differently. So the ingredient
converter multiplies: grams = cups × grams-per-cup, and divides the
other way: cups = grams ÷ grams-per-cup.
This is why baking by weight is more accurate. Two cooks can scoop
wildly different amounts of flour into the same cup — one packs it, one spoons it
light — and the recipe changes. A gram is a gram on any scale, every time. The cup
weights below are King Arthur Baking standard averages; treat them as good defaults, not
guarantees for your exact brand and technique.
Ingredient cup weights (grams per US cup)
How much one US cup of each ingredient weighs, using the King Arthur Baking standard
weights this calculator runs on. To convert any amount: grams = cups × the
number below. So 2 cups of all-purpose flour is 2 × 120 = 240 g.
Ingredient
Grams per cup1 US cup (236.588 ml)
Grams per ½ cuphalf of above
Grams per tbspcup ÷ 16
All-purpose flour
120
60
7.5
Bread flour
120
60
7.5
Granulated sugar
200
100
12.5
Brown sugar (packed)
213
106.5
13.3
Powdered sugar (unsifted)
113
56.5
7.1
Butter
227
113.5
14.2
Water
237
118.5
14.8
Milk
242
121
15.1
Honey
340
170
21.3
Vegetable oil
218
109
13.6
Long-grain rice (uncooked)
198
99
12.4
Rolled oats
89
44.5
5.6
Cocoa powder
85
42.5
5.3
Table salt
273
136.5
17.1
Cornstarch
120
60
7.5
Source: King Arthur Baking standard ingredient weights. These are averages for
spoon-and-level measuring; scooping directly from the bag packs in more and can run 20%
heavier. Per-tablespoon and per-half-cup figures are derived from the per-cup weight
(÷ 16 and ÷ 2) and rounded for display.
Volume equivalents
The exact volume ratios, independent of ingredient. A US cup is 16 tablespoons, 48
teaspoons, 8 US fluid ounces, and 236.588 milliliters. These never change with what
you're measuring — they're pure volume.
Measure
Cups
Tbsp
Tsp
US fl oz
Milliliters
1 cup
1
16
48
8
236.59
¾ cup
0.75
12
36
6
177.44
½ cup
0.5
8
24
4
118.29
¼ cup
0.25
4
12
2
59.15
1 tbsp
0.0625
1
3
0.5
14.79
1 tsp
0.0208
0.333
1
0.167
4.93
1 US fl oz
0.125
2
6
1
29.57
Based on the US legal cup (236.588 ml) and its exact subdivisions: 1 cup = 16 tbsp =
48 tsp = 8 US fl oz. Milliliter columns are rounded to two decimals for display.
A metric cup is 250 ml and an old UK imperial cup is about 284 ml — this table uses
the US cup.
Getting the conversion right
A conversion is only as good as the assumptions behind it. Four things worth knowing
before you trust the number.
Volume can't become weight without an ingredient
There is no single "cups to grams" number. A cup of flour, a cup of sugar, and a cup of honey all fill the same space but weigh 120, 200, and 340 grams respectively. If a converter asks you to turn cups into grams without asking what the ingredient is, it's guessing — usually assuming water. Always pick the ingredient.
How you fill the cup changes the weight
Spoon-and-level — spooning flour into the cup and leveling the top with a knife — gives the standard 120 g. Dipping the cup straight into the bag and packing it can push the same "cup" past 140 g, enough to make bread dense or cookies dry. The cup weights here assume the gentler spoon-and-level method. A scale sidesteps the whole problem.
Know which cup your recipe uses
This tool uses the US cup of 236.588 ml. Australian and many other metric recipes use a 250 ml cup, and older British recipes used a 284 ml imperial cup. The gap is small for one cup but compounds when you scale a recipe up. If a recipe reads oddly metric or British, check the cup size before converting.
Weigh when accuracy matters
For soups, stews, and forgiving cooking, cups are fine. For baking — where ratios of flour to fat to liquid decide whether something rises — weigh in grams. A 20-dollar kitchen scale removes the single biggest source of inconsistency in home baking, and it means fewer dirty measuring cups. The gram weights in this tool are a good starting point when a recipe only gives volume.
Where to buy
Got your numbers? Here's where to pick up what you need:
The terms behind the converter, in plain English. These are background definitions for
home cooking, not laboratory standards.
Volume
A measure of the space something takes up. Cups, tablespoons, teaspoons, milliliters, and fluid ounces are all volume units, and they convert between each other with fixed ratios that don't depend on the ingredient — a cup is always 16 tablespoons.
Weight (mass)
A measure of how much matter something contains. Ounces, pounds, grams, and kilograms are weight units. A kitchen scale reads weight, which is why weighing is more repeatable than measuring by volume — a gram is a gram regardless of how you fill the container.
Density
How much a given volume of something weighs — the bridge between volume and weight. Flour is light and fluffy, honey is heavy and dense, so the same cup holds 120 g of one and 340 g of the other. The ingredient converter is really just applying each ingredient's density.
US cup
The US legal cup, equal to 236.588 ml, 16 tablespoons, 48 teaspoons, or 8 US fluid ounces. This calculator uses the US cup throughout. It is not the same as the 250 ml metric cup or the older 284 ml UK imperial cup.
Tablespoon & teaspoon
A US tablespoon is 3 teaspoons and 14.7868 ml; a teaspoon is 4.92892 ml. There are 16 tablespoons in a cup. These are exact volume measures and the same for every ingredient.
Fluid ounce (volume) vs. ounce (weight)
These are different things that share a name. A US fluid ounce is a volume (29.5735 ml, an eighth of a cup); an ounce is a weight (28.3495 g). A cup of water happens to weigh close to 8 ounces, but that coincidence only holds for water — don't rely on it for other ingredients.
Spoon-and-level
The recommended way to measure flour by cup: spoon it loosely into the cup, then level the top with a straight edge. It gives the standard 120 g per cup for all-purpose flour. The alternative — scooping the cup through the bag — compacts the flour and adds weight, which is the main reason cup measurements drift.
Frequently asked
One US cup of all-purpose flour weighs about 120 grams, using the King Arthur Baking standard weight. Bread flour is the same, about 120 g per cup. This is an average for spoon-and-level measuring; if you scoop the cup directly into the bag and pack it down you can end up with 140 g or more — exactly why weighing flour gives more consistent results. Try it in the converter.
There are 16 tablespoons in one US cup, and 48 teaspoons, since each tablespoon is 3 teaspoons. Half a cup is 8 tablespoons, a quarter cup is 4 tablespoons, and an eighth of a cup is 2 tablespoons. These are exact ratios that don't depend on the ingredient, because they all measure volume. See the full volume table.
No. A cup is a fixed volume, but different ingredients have different densities, so they weigh different amounts. A US cup of all-purpose flour is about 120 g, while a cup of granulated sugar is about 200 g and a cup of honey is about 340 g. That's why you can't swap cups for grams with a single number — the conversion depends on the ingredient, which is what the ingredient mode handles.
A US cup is 236.588 milliliters, usually rounded to 240 ml in recipes. A US tablespoon is 14.7868 ml and a US teaspoon is 4.92892 ml. Note that the metric cup used in Australia and elsewhere is 250 ml, and the UK historically used a 284 ml imperial cup — so a recipe's origin matters.
No. A US legal cup is 236.588 ml. The metric cup used in Australia, New Zealand, and much of the world that adopted it is 250 ml, and the older UK imperial cup was about 284 ml. This calculator uses the US cup. The difference is small for a single cup but adds up across a recipe, so check where your recipe comes from before scaling it.
One US cup of butter is about 227 grams — two standard American sticks, or half a pound. Each stick is 113 g, 8 tablespoons, or half a cup. Because butter is sold in marked sticks in the US, reading the tablespoon markings on the wrapper is usually easier and more accurate than packing it into a measuring cup.
Volume measures space and weight measures mass, and the two only connect through an ingredient's density. With dry ingredients like flour, how you fill the cup, whether you scoop or spoon, and even kitchen humidity can change the weight by 20% or more. A kitchen scale removes that variability, which is why serious baking recipes give weights in grams. For liquids the difference is smaller, but a scale is still faster and uses fewer dishes.
There are 3 teaspoons in one tablespoon. So a tablespoon is 3 teaspoons, two tablespoons are 6 teaspoons, and a full cup is 16 tablespoons or 48 teaspoons. In milliliters, a US teaspoon is 4.92892 ml and a US tablespoon is 14.7868 ml. These are exact volume ratios and the same for every ingredient.
Common mistakes
Four ways this converter gets misused — and why each one matters.
Scooping flour instead of spooning it
Dipping the cup straight into the bag packs flour in and can push a nominal “1 cup” to 140 g or more instead of the standard 120 g. That is a 17% overshoot. The cup-to-gram figures on this page assume the spoon-and-level method: spoon flour lightly into the cup, then level with a knife. For consistent results, weigh in grams and bypass the technique problem entirely.
Using a single cups-to-grams number without picking an ingredient
Cups measure volume; grams measure mass. The conversion only works through the ingredient’s density, which is why this calculator asks you to choose one. A cup of all-purpose flour is 120 g, a cup of granulated sugar is 200 g, and a cup of honey is 340 g — the same volume, three very different weights. Any converter that gives you a generic “1 cup = X grams” without asking what the ingredient is is making up a number.
Assuming a US cup and a metric cup are the same
A US cup is 236.588 ml (per NIST / US customary units). An Australian or New Zealand metric cup is 250 ml — about 6% larger. An older UK imperial cup was roughly 284 ml. For a single cup the difference is small, but it compounds across a recipe and across multiple conversions. This calculator uses the US cup throughout; if your recipe is from an Australian or British source, check which cup it assumes before converting.
Converting fluid ounces and weight ounces as though they’re the same
A US fluid ounce is a volume (29.5735 ml); an ounce (avoirdupois) is a weight (28.3495 g). They share a name but measure entirely different things. A cup of water happens to weigh close to 8 oz because water’s density is near 1 g/ml, but that coincidence breaks down for any other ingredient. If a recipe says “4 oz cream cheese,” that is almost certainly weight, not volume — use the weight conversion mode, not the volume mode.